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What does a career services advisor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
Quoted expert
Shelley Sadin

The job of a career services advisor is to work with groups and individuals in determining skills and strengthen recruitment potential. Career services advisors maintain web and print resources for employers and students. They administer the career evaluations of individuals, and teach them about resume writing and interviewing for jobs. They make a resolution for issues associated with employment. Their job involves developing and managing parent volunteer groups implementing an assessment process for feedback from students and speakers.

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Career services advisor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real career services advisor resumes:

  • Assist graduating students and alumni in securing employment by developing industry relationships, communicating opportunities and providing guidance and resources.
  • Pursue employers for job opportunities on behalf of current students and alumni by conducting corporate development regularly and attending corporate visits.
  • Work with individuals and organizations to provide leadership development coaching and career counseling.
  • Exceed expectation of both program participants and company leadership when facilitating workshops and seminars.

Career services advisor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 17% of Career Services Advisors are proficient in Career Services, Alumni, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Listening skills, and Speaking skills.

We break down the percentage of Career Services Advisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Career Services, 17%

    Provided administrative support to Director of Career Services including calendar management, coordination of travel itineraries and preparation of expense reports.

  • Alumni, 11%

    Pursued employers for job opportunities on behalf of current students and alumni by conducting corporate development regularly and attending corporate visits.

  • Customer Service, 11%

    Provide exceptional customer service to students actively seeking job leads.

  • Professional Development, 8%

    Engage and actively partner with students by directing professional development activities including mock interviews, professional workshops, and resume writing.

  • Data Entry, 5%

    Fulfilled daily administrative productivity reporting and documentation including data entry and clerical duties.

  • Career Fairs, 5%

    Collaborated with community agencies to produce effective career fairs for DeVry students.

"career services," "alumni," and "customer service" are among the most common skills that career services advisors use at work. You can find even more career services advisor responsibilities below, including:

Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a career services advisor to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "school and career counselors and advisors interpret student records, schoolwide data, and assessments to match interests and abilities with potential careers. ." Additionally, a career services advisor resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "performed financial data entry tasks within oracle and various microsoft office products that resulted in elimination if previous application errors. "

Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform career services advisor duties is listening skills. Career services advisors responsibilities require that "school and career counselors and advisors need to give full attention to students and clients in order to understand their problems." Career services advisors also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "created and communicated to students and alumni, through social media channels, regarding events and service offerings. "

Speaking skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of career services advisors is speaking skills. This skill is critical to many everyday career services advisor duties, as "school and career counselors and advisors must communicate effectively with clients and students." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "presented motivational business speeches for the career services department. "

Interpersonal skills. A big part of what career services advisors do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to career services advisor responsibilities because "school and career counselors and advisors must be able to work with people of all backgrounds and personalities." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical career services advisor tasks: "provided coaching to graduates regarding professional etiquette, resume building, interview and interpersonal skills. "

See the full list of career services advisor skills

The three companies that hire the most career services advisors are:

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Compare different career services advisors

Career services advisor vs. Enrollment counselor

An enrollment counselor is primarily in charge of recruiting potential students for a college or university. Serving as the students' primary point of contact, their responsibilities involve developing recruitment strategies, conducting student interviews and assessments, gathering and validating applications, arranging appointments and schedules, and facilitating campus tours. They must also answer inquiries, address concerns, and update students on the status of their applications. Furthermore, an enrollment counselor must represent their university or college at recruitment events and college fairs, utilizing the opportunity to promote the institution and reach out to potential students.

If we compare the average career services advisor annual salary with that of an enrollment counselor, we find that enrollment counselors typically earn a $4,412 lower salary than career services advisors make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both career services advisor and enrollment counselor positions are skilled in professional development, community events, and powerpoint.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, career services advisor responsibilities require skills like "career services," "alumni," "customer service," and "data entry." Meanwhile a typical enrollment counselor has skills in areas such as "enrollment process," "outbound calls," "inbound calls," and "good judgment." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Enrollment counselors earn the highest salaries when working in the non profits industry, with an average yearly salary of $41,353. On the other hand, career services advisors are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $47,666.On average, enrollment counselors reach similar levels of education than career services advisors. Enrollment counselors are 1.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Career services advisor vs. Employment counselor

The employment counselor is someone who guides and advises people on how to choose, manage and continue in a career path they've chosen. The employment counselor educates people on each career's pros and cons, giving them insights into what to expect, salary rates, and employment chances in a particular profession. The employment counselor will also show how to excel in a specific career, offer ideas on what training or seminar to attend and what skills to enhance to achieve an edge over others.

A career as a employment counselor brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a career services advisor. In fact, employment counselors salary is $1,715 lower than the salary of career services advisors per year.A few skills overlap for career services advisors and employment counselors. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "mock interviews," "career planning," and "interview techniques. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, career services advisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "career services," "alumni," "customer service," and "professional development." Meanwhile, an employment counselor has duties that require skills in areas such as "litigation," "employment law," "employment litigation," and "flsa." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Employment counselors earn a lower average salary than career services advisors. But employment counselors earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $47,101. Additionally, career services advisors earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $47,666 annually.In general, employment counselors achieve similar levels of education than career services advisors. They're 0.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for career services advisors in the next 3-5 years?

Shelley SadinShelley Sadin LinkedIn profile

Associate Dean of Professional and Career Development, Quinnipiac University

We cannot predict this, given how rapidly technology is advancing. We can say that remote meetings have taken over. Zoom use has increased exponentially, and distant court proceedings in Connecticut are being held via Microsoft Teams. Graduates will generally need to adapt to new technologies as they are introduced to keep up with the people and businesses they hope to represent.

Career services advisor vs. Education counselor

The work of education counselors revolves around giving students advice about their course choice, career structuring, and supporting them in their school endeavors. They must have the empathy to help students adjust to their everyday struggles and personal conflicts. They often give students information about scholarship grants and help them apply. They organize seminars talking about alcohol consumption and smoking. Counselors also discuss strategies to improve school performance regarding overall counseling services.

On average, education counselors earn lower salaries than career services advisors, with a $98 difference per year.career services advisors and education counselors both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "professional development," "career planning," and "career exploration," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from career services advisor resumes include skills like "career services," "alumni," "customer service," and "data entry," whereas an education counselor is more likely to list skills in "mental health," "crisis intervention," "financial aid," and "behavioral problems. "

Education counselors earn the highest salary when working in the education industry, where they receive an average salary of $45,415. Comparatively, career services advisors have the highest earning potential in the education industry, with an average salary of $47,666.Most education counselors achieve a higher degree level compared to career services advisors. For example, they're 8.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Career services advisor vs. Program counselor

A Program Counselor is an essential part of a school's faculty. It's the counselor's responsibility to ensure that students are benefiting from the school's educational curriculum. This person is also tasked to help students resolve issues and problems that may hinder any educational progress. They are also part of the disciplinary team intended to instill good morals, ethics, and decency in students. The Program Counselor is one of the teacher or professor who has expertise or has a high educational degree in a particular subject or field.

Program counselors average a lower salary than the annual salary of career services advisors. The difference is about $1,743 per year.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between career services advisors and program counselors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a career services advisor might have more use for skills like "career services," "alumni," "customer service," and "professional development." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of program counselors require skills like "developmental disabilities," "patients," "community integration," and "cpr. "

In general, program counselors earn the most working in the health care industry, with an average salary of $41,845. The highest-paying industry for a career services advisor is the education industry.In general, program counselors hold similar degree levels compared to career services advisors. Program counselors are 3.1% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of career services advisor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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